Indian English

Sailaja Pingali

Abstract

This volume is a description of English as it is used in India. The complex nature of Indian English, which is a second language to most of its speakers, is discussed in the book. Even though the variety is not monolithic, there are still several common features across the country. The volume focuses mostly on pan-Indian features and regional variations are touched upon wherever relevant. Indian English is classified in this book as standard, non-standard and informal, and features of these, often relating them to sociolinguistic and cultural factors, form the core of the book. At the same tim ... More

This volume is a description of English as it is used in India. The complex nature of Indian English, which is a second language to most of its speakers, is discussed in the book. Even though the variety is not monolithic, there are still several common features across the country. The volume focuses mostly on pan-Indian features and regional variations are touched upon wherever relevant. Indian English is classified in this book as standard, non-standard and informal, and features of these, often relating them to sociolinguistic and cultural factors, form the core of the book. At the same time, the attempt has been to cover standard Indian English as much as possible. Three chapters deal with linguistic features—phonetics and phonology, morphosyntax, lexis and discourse. The first chapter provides the context and current position of English especially in relation to the cultural factors of the country and provides some statistical details and demographics. One chapter deals with history in relation to the institutionalisation of English in India, bringing it up to modern times. One chapter provides an annotated bibliography of select works. Several samples of written and spoken Indian English are provided in the last chapter.